DR.

ROMAN AL MAMUN

Lecturer and Autopsy Surgeon

Forensic Science and Toxicology

The identification of human remains is important for both legal and humanitarian reasons.
This document provides a brief overview for nonexperts of the scientific process by which human
remains are identified.

The forensic identification of human remains is a legal determination (sealed by the jurisdictional
authority’s signature on a death certificate) based on the scientific matching of information on missing
persons with unidentified human remains.
Identification requires a holistic approach that takes into consideration all available scientific and
contextual evidence. Each line of evidence must be weighed and treated on its merits.
The scale of the identification project must also be considered and the identification strategy adjusted
accordingly.

a nalysis
and reconciliation.

BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Preliminary investigation is needed to locate, assess, collate and organize all available information on
missing persons and the whereabouts of human remains.
This information can enhance the identification process in a number of ways, for instance, by:
• corroborating witness statements about where and when the missing person was last seen
• providing specific details for comparison with characteristics noted on recovered remains
• helping investigators locate possible gravesites.
It is important to collect information pertaining to the person before he or she went missing.
This information, called ante-mortem data (AMD),1can be obtained from family members and
sometimes from close friends and colleagues.
AMD on a missing person generally include the following types of information:
• general personal/social information (name,age, home address, place of work, marital status, etc.)
• physical appearance (height, weight, eye colour, hair colour, etc.)
• medical and dental history (fractures, diseases,missing teeth, dental crowns, fillings, etc.)
• distinguishing features (habits [e.g. pipe smoking], unique characteristics, like scars,birthmarks or
tattoos)
• clothes and other personal items the missing person was wearing or carrying when he or she was
last seen
• any circumstances related to the disappearance.
In addition, biological samples from the relatives of a missing person (and/or samples from the missing
person acquired before his or her disappearance) may be collected for use in the identification process.
Persons without specialized forensic skills may collect AMD and biological samples, but they must be
trained in advance and should follow standardized procedures to ensure that the data are complete, of
high quality, and reliable.
The families and friends of missing persons are often the most valuable sources of background
information.
Usually, family members will have undertaken a great deal of research on their own, to uncover as
much information as possible about the missing person, especially if several years have passed since
his or her disappearance.
Any individual who was in contact with a missing person is a potential source of vital information.
Although generally regarded as the first step in forensic investigation, background research can begin
at any time (although the sooner the preliminary investigation begins, the better) and should continue
until the missing person is found or until his or her remains are identified and returned to the family.

RECOVERY OF REMAINS
Proper recovery and management of remains and associated evidence (e.g. clothes, personal
belongings, and other pieces of evidence) are vitally important in forensic identification and can help
clarify the fate of the person in question.
Ideally, forensic archaeologists should conduct this process, especially when the circumstances of
recovery are complex (clandestine burials, mass graves, extensive surface scatter as can occur in
plane crashes, etc.).
Their specialized skills and knowledge help ensure the proper recovery of remains and the gathering of
as much additional information as possible for use in identification and other related activities.
Broadly speaking, the recovery of remains involves three main phases:
• locating the remains
• mapping the remains and the entire site and
documenting all relevant information
• retrieving the remains properly, labeling them, and securing them for transport, which can be
particularly difficult if the remains are of many different individuals.
Human remains can be found in any setting, indoors (e.g. within buildings or amidst the rubble of
destroyed structures) and outdoors (e.g. burial sites, on the ground, in watery surroundings, wells or
caves).
There are many methods and tools for finding them.
However, there is, as yet, no device for detecting bones.
Often, the best information about the location of remains comes from witness statements.
Developing a Biological Profile
Forensic Anthropologists offer unknown deceased individuals an identity by developing a biological
profile to portray their physical characteristics.
There are various contributing factors that help these professionals establish an individual’s age, sex,
and stature.
When a Forensic Anthropologist must determine an entity’s age, they must first apply their knowledge
of skeletal and dental development to their conclusions.
Firstly, ossification centers in bones help determine age in individuals.
These developments “are patterned, depending on age,sex, bone element involved, nutritional and
hormonal status, and individual variation”.
Following this, ascertaining age also depends on the dental development of the subject.
Forensic Anthropologists apply “odontological identification of the individual based on the dental record
and support radiographs,” which assists them in establishing the age range of the individual.
If an anthropologist were to be perplexed by the evidence at hand, there are radiographic studies of
living individuals that are offered to these specialists for references.
When a forensic expert must determine the biological sex of asubject, “the hip bones exhibit the most
sexually dimorphic elements of the skeleton,” making it a crucial element in determining the sex.
Anthropologists can determine the difference between male and female pelvises, primarily due to “the
discrete sex-specific differences in size and shape”.
Given this, the pelvis bone under examination by these specialists grants an excellent opportunity to
determine the biological sex of the subject.
When a Forensic Anthropologist must establish the living stature of a subject, there are many formulas
that they can use.
Despite this, the “most reliable results are based on long bone lengths and particularly the bones of
the lower limbs,” or more
commonly referred to as the use of allometry.
The various different applications of knowledge that anthropologists apply into their work aid in
ascertaining a subject’s age, biological sex, and stature which eventually generates a biological profile
for a previously unknown individual.
LABORATORY ANALYSIS AND
RECONCILIATION
After the remains have been properly recovered, they should be sent for laboratory analysis and
reconciliation.
The first step in laboratory analysis and reconciliation is preparing and examining the remains.
This must be done by specially trained experts (forensic pathologists, anthropologists, odontologists,
etc.) who gather information –post-mortem data (PMD) – about the remains themselves and any
circumstantial evidence.
PMD may include the following types of information:
• general information about the remains (age range, sex, height, etc.)
• medical and dental facts including unique characteristics of the remains (signs of old bone fractures
or evidence of surgery, condition of the teeth and presence of any dental work such as fillings, etc.)
• trauma and post-mortem damage to the remains (both intentional and accidental)
• fingerprint information
• DNA data
• clothes and personal items found with the remains
• circumstantial information about the remains (where they were found and how they came to be in
that location, including witness testimony, etc.).
The PMD must then be "matched" with the AMD of a missing person (AMD-PMD matching), which must
also be carried out by qualified experts.
AMD-PMD MATCH
The greater the number of matching characteristics between the AMD and the PMD, the greater the
likelihood that the remains are indeed what they are believed to be.
For example, if the only characteristics that match the AMD with the PMD relate to general information
about the remains, such as those listed above in black, then it is highly probable that many missing
persons will “match” the
unidentified set of remains.
But, logically, there can be only one true match.
These coincidental matches can be particularly common and problematic if many of the missing
persons are soldiers missing in action or if a large number of persons are missing.
Electronic databases with automated matching and other application tools, such as the ICRC’s Ante-
Mortem/Post Mortem (AMPM) Database,can be of assistance in providing hypotheses of identity,
particularly in large-scale investigations of missing persons and unidentified remains.
Typically, an identification is made when the AMD and PMD match in sufficient detail to conclude that
they are from the same individual, to the exclusion of all other reasonable possibilities.
Highly discriminating scientific means of identification, which are also part of the AMD-PMD matching
process, may be conclusive to a degree that would be considered beyond reasonable doubt in most
legal contexts.
These means include:
• matching ante-mortem and post-mortem dental data
• matching ante-mortem and post-mortem fingerprints
• matching other identifiers, such as unique physical or medical traits, including skeletal X-rays and
numbered surgical implants or prostheses
• matching DNA profiles from remains with reference samples.
The final step in the laboratory analysis-and reconciliation stage of forensic identification involves
consolidating all the available data(field data, AMD-PMD matching data, etc.) to achieve a positive
identification in which one set of remains is conclusively matched with one missing person.
A reasonable explanation should be furnished for any inconsistencies between the AMD and PMD.
The forensic identification of human remains must take a holistic approach: all information that could
help identify a body or set of human remains should be considered.
As a general rule, the more reliable (i.e. correct), complete, detailed and specific the data, the better
the chances of correctly identifying the remains.
DNA analysis a powerful tool in identifying remains.
In forensic identification, DNA data may be used to:
• provide scientific evidence to confirm an AMD-PMD match or
• in DNA-led programmes, provide scientific identification, which is then confirmed with AMD-PMD
matching.